PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. - William Woods University (18-10) finished off a memorable, successful 6-0 week, sweeping host Trinity Christian College (5-17) 25-22, 25-23, 25-22 and Lourdes University (4-15) 25-19, 25-15, 25-17 on Day 2 of the Trolls Invite Saturday at DeVos Gymnasium.
Taking on the Trolls, the Owls did slightly better statistically than the hosts despite earning their third of four sweeps on the week. William Woods recorded 41 kills (.267 hitting percentage), one ace, eight blocks, 38 assists and 43 digs, while Trinity Christian had 39 kills (.132 hitting percentage), eight aces, four blocks, 38 assists and 38 digs.
"We were excited to play the host school in their gym first thing in the morning today!" William Woods volleyball coach
Kandace Cook said. "We had a couple really good runs but let TCC close in on them. They had a very active setter that ran a good 5-1. Once we learned some tendencies, we were able to get some footing and keep moving forward."
Luciana Paiva Pereira guided William Woods' attack with a match-high 14 kills while hitting .303, and
Mya Clapp also stood out with seven kills and a .600 hitting percentage. A dig away from a double-double,
Erin Treis supported the Owls' offense with 17 assists and nine digs.
In the first set, William Woods notched 15 kills with a .250 hitting percentage, while Trinity Christian had 14 kills with a .163 hitting percentage. The Owls led for the remainder of the set after going up 2-1 off a Trolls attack error, and that started a 10-3 WWU run that furthered its advantage to 12-4 - its largest of the set. During that stretch, Clapp put down three kills, and
Audra Gray had three assists as the pair combined for the last point. When the Owls won the set point, Paiva Pereira recorded her fourth and final kill of the set, provided by the last of Treis' four assists in set one.
Although William Woods registered 15 kills again, its .195 hitting percentage made the second set closer than the first; Trinity Christian had 10 kills and a .081 hitting percentage. The Owls led by as much as five points at 16-11, while the Trolls' largest lead was a point. Paiva Pereira had quite the set with six kills and a block, and Treis also improved upon her set one assist tally with six helpers in set two.
Using its efficiency to secure the sweep, William Woods posted a .450 hitting percentage with 11 kills and 20 total attacks in the third set, 20 fewer than its lowest in the first two sets. Meanwhile, Trinity Christian tallied a set-high 10 errors, putting down 15 kills with a .147 hitting percentage. Set four was full of momentum shifts: WWU scored the first four points before TCC put up six points with no reply to go up by two points. Following that, the Trolls led by as much as four points (12-8), but a 4-0 Owls run gave them the lead for good at 21-20. Remaining consistent leaders, Paiva Pereira had four kills and a block and Treis had six assists in set three.
Finishing off the Trolls Invite with a more dominant sweep, William Woods notched 40 kills (.276 hitting percentage), four aces, seven blocks, 37 assists and 42 digs, compared to Lourdes' 29 kills (.087 hitting percentage), two aces, five blocks, 29 assists and 42 digs.
"We saw a lot of teams that run a 5-1 this weekend, which is not normal for us," Cook said. "I think we did well at taking advantage of that and being aggressive on the pin to cause some chaos. People try to get us on OOS, but we love to run out of system; not all teams do or have as much confidence to. We know we can hit that ball and do something with it. Today was a great day, we worked hard and supported one another in order to be successful."
Not just on Saturday but for the season as a whole, a different Owl can answer the bell in any given match.
Vitoria Campos Mello rose to the occasion against the Gray Wolves, putting down a match-high 10 kills (.444 hitting percentage) and pulling down a team-high nine digs. It wasn't just Campos Mello, though.
Pamela Durazo registered six kills (.500 hitting percentage) and a match-high two aces, and
Reanna Dodge tallied six kills (.444 hitting percentage) and a team-high four blocks.
In the first set, William Woods started well with 14 kills (.263 hitting percentage), holding Lourdes to 11 kills (.049 hitting percentage) and a set-high nine errors. Trailing by as much as four points twice, the Owls had an excellent finish, ending set one on a 9-3 run to win it by six.
Federica Borsero, who had a match-high five blocks versus Trinity Christian, put down her third kill of the set - she also had a block - off of Gray's seventh and final assist of the set to take set one.
The story of the second set was William Woods starting and finishing strong. Staying in front the entire set, the Owls went on a 4-1 run to begin the set and ended it on a 5-1 run, with a Treis assist giving WWU set point - she also had four assists in the set. The Owls hit .207 with 12 kills, and the Gray Wolves hit .103 with seven kills.
William Woods had its best hitting percentage of the match, .355, in the third set, putting down 14 kills with a set-low three errors, while Lourdes notched a .118 hitting percentage, its highest of the contest, with 11 kills and seven errors. The Owls took three eight-point leads before they reached 20 points, with their 5-0 run that ended with them taking a 17-9 advantage being key in that. Dodge helped WWU to secure the sweep with five kills and a block in set three, and so did Treis with six assists, including on Campos Mello's match-set point kill, her fourth kill of the set.
Making William Woods' 6-0 week, its six-game active winning streak its longest of the season, all the more impressive, the Owls did it without first-team All-American Midwest Conference selection
Lauren Adams, who couldn't play due to an ankle injury.
"We were excited in both games today: We were able to do more with our reserve athletes and play a good game with multiple different pieces going in and out," Cook said. "It was great to see more of us develop and be successful on the court together as a team."
After playing and prevailing in five matches over three days without a day's break, the Owls finally get a much-needed breather. Following its nine-day hiatus, William Woods (2-2 AMC) hosts the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis (3-20, 0-4 AMC) in an AMC matchup at 6 p.m. Oct. 15 at Anderson Arena in Fulton.
